Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grinding wheel for use in a grinding apparatus for grinding a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer and also to a cleaning method for a grinding chamber included in the grinding apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In a grinding apparatus, grinding is conventionally performed in the condition where a grinding water is supplied. The grinding water is supplied along the inner circumferential surface of a grinding wheel having plural abrasive members (see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2013-141738, for example). In the grinding apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2013-141738, the grinding wheel has an annular base, and the plural abrasive members are mounted on the lower surface of the base so as to be spaced at given intervals in the circumferential direction of the base. The grinding water flows along the inner circumferential surface (inner side surface) of the base toward the abrasive members and then enters the spacing between the grinding surface of each abrasive member and the work surface of the workpiece during grinding. A grinding dust is generated during grinding and it is contained in the grinding water. The grinding water thus containing the grinding dust is forcibly moved toward the outer circumference of the workpiece through the gap between any adjacent ones of the abrasive members by a centrifugal force of the like.